1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the field of ice fishing and, more particularly, to an improved tip-up flag device having adjustable trip settings and improved pivot mechanism, as well as improved compactness, handling and performance characteristics.
2. Description of the Related Art
To increase the enjoyability and effectiveness of time spent ice fishing, various signaling devices have been used to visually indicate to the ice fisherman when a fish has taken a particular line. A retracted signal device, such as a signal flag, has been used extensively, being held in a non-signaling position by various structural arrangements and then being released to a signaling position when a fish has been hooked. The fisherman, who may be some distance away, is then alerted of the need to tend the line without wasting time sitting next to the hole in the ice, waiting for a fish.
As the fisherman may have many fishing lines baited at any given time, and dispersed over a broad area, false fish-on-the-hook “signaling” alarms caused by inadequate trip settings are undesirable, both from the standpoint of the effort required to tend and reset the signal device, and due to the possibility that the valid activation of another signaling flag device may be missed during the resetting interval.
In addition to the dynamics of the fishing process itself, the deployment of a plurality of tip-up flag devices can be awkward as the devices are somewhat bulky and typically irregular in shape. Once they are outfitted with line and hooks, they are increasingly cumbersome and prone to becoming tangled with one another.